SKULL AND CROSS-BONES. 367 



ter, of which the sculpture was more defaced and 

 worn ; and, besides these, there were monuments of 

 a different character, half buried, and dispersed 

 without apparent order, but which evidently had 

 an adaptation to each other ; after some examina- 

 tion, we made out what we considered the arrange- 

 ment in which they had stood, and had them set up 

 according to our combination. The following en- 

 graving represents these stones. They vary from 

 one foot four inches to one foot ten inches in length. 



Each stone is two feet three inches high. The 

 subject is the skull and cross-bones. The sculpture 

 is in bas-relief, and the carving good, and still clear 

 and distinct. Probably this was the holy place of 

 the city, where the idols or deities were presented 

 to the people with the emblems of death around 

 them. 



The ruins lie on the common lands of the village 

 of Nohcacab, at least so say the alcaldes of that 

 place, but Don Simon Peon claims that they are 

 within the old boundaries of the hacienda of Uxmal, 

 and the setthng of the question is not worth the 

 expense of a survey. The name Nohpat is com- 

 pounded of two Maya words, which signify a great 



